As some of you may know, in October last year I was assaulted when I was walking back alone one night at Uni. I was repeatedly beaten and left on the path by a man whose face I never saw, whose voice I never heard. The only way I can try and describe it is that I have never been so scared that I could not think. The hardest part being that I knew no one could hear me and that no one would come.

I know there is no way for me to prevent it from happening to someone else. But at the time of the assault I had been at Durham for about three weeks and I felt like I had no one to turn to but Victim Support made it a little bit less unbearable, so I want to help Victim Support help other people like me.

In September I will be running the Scottish Half Marathon in Edinburgh with my best friend Charlie who supported me throughout my recovery. Thanks to Victim Support I got my own Victim Support Officer; Debbie. Debbie probably doesn’t know this but I could not have done this without her. She sorted out all the paperwork, spoke to the police, explained words to me like ‘bail’ and ‘charged’ but most importantly she took me out for coffee and just asked me what I was thinking and how I was doing. I felt like I knew Debbie already but then in a way I also felt like I could tell her anything because I didn’t really know her. I have never been tested like this in my life and even though I was surrounded by hundreds of people I had never felt so lonely however week-by-week my Friday mornings with Debbie made me feel a little bit braver. Unfortunately I am still affected by that night now; I am anxious whenever I walk alone, I am always looking over my shoulder, I cannot fall asleep without locking my door and I have nightmares of how differently it could have ended. But I believe Debbie when she tells me that it just takes time. At first I could not walk the same path or walk by myself but I then realised that I do not want to let this individual change me and prevent me from doing things in my life and hopefully in a years time or so I will no longer need to lock my door.

And last but never least, I have never really taken the opportunity and said thank you to my brother Luke, thank you for being there for me when I needed you the most, you are an unmatched soul in this world and love in my heart. I might be raising the money for Victim Support but I would like to dedicate my run to you.